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Once were warriors

Tony Grossi reports in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the Cleveland Browns practiced in a June rain on Thursday. In the article, running back Jamal Lewis claims that he’s never seen minicamp practice in rain. “But at the same time, I think Mangini has a point to everything he does,” Jamal said. “There’s a meaning to everything he does. I think he knows on Sunday we’re going to get rain sometimes, so why not? It’s kind of fun to play out in the rain a little bit.”

The Browns were a soft team under Romeo Crennel, who would move practices indoors at the first sighting of a soft, singular, light-grey cloud overhead. This skittishness revealed itself during the regular season, in continuous, late-season beatings by the division foes and tougher teams.

Mangini is catching heat from various writers (and, according to some, the NFLPA) for drastically changing the culture in Cleveland. If anything, he sees what the old guard saw. Dispatched GM Phil Savage, years ago, was vocal about the fact that the Browns needed a culture shift. Savage’s thorn in the side was being stuck with Crennel–with no power to hire his own coach–and we all know that Crennel (while a wonderful person, beloved by players) was not the right coach for a young team that needed discipline to grow.

Anybody who adores football–and knows that it’s a game to be played with passion in the sun, rain, snow, and cold–must smile on Mangini practicing these men in a downpour.

Playing in Cleveland, in the rain, shouldn't be such a breeze--but it has been.

Why is it unusual? Why have we fallen for the idea that young athletes must be pampered–and that pampering them will translate into toughness? We overreact because the rookies had to RIDE A BUS to a volunteer youth camp (the NFLPA is looking into it… snooze) and we are “concerned” because Mangini held a practice in rain showers.

I played Pop Warner for years. In the sixth grade, we were practicing in the rain. Granted, we weren’t deemed as multimillion-dollar investments, but we were children, reported to be highly valued by our parents, and most of the fathers present agreed that a little football in the rain would do their sons good. And… it did. Why are we shielding these “warriors” from inclement weather?

Don’t tell me it’s about injuries. The Browns were in the top five in NFL injuries in 2008, and that followed an offseason where the team was coddled like a lineup of Cabbage Patch Dolls in a third-grade girl’s bedroom. The Browns ended 2008 playing their third- and fourth-string quarterbacks and didn’t score a touchdown in the final six games.

Yes, it’s time for a culture shift in Cleveland, and if they ever plan to look more like a professional football team, and less like the Stuyvesant High Math Team (below), a little rainfall can’t stop them.

Cleveland Browns 2008 Team Photo